


Binding with White Rope

by Kath (KathWolfie)



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Fluff, Jae-ha's problem might be similar to Hak's problem, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, also: Hak/Yona is only mentioned, or maybe not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-01
Updated: 2015-05-01
Packaged: 2018-03-26 14:38:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3854395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KathWolfie/pseuds/Kath
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Unconsciously, Jae-ha bound himself to personified ideals of the past dragon warriors generations. Now he feels the need to run away, but it's a lot harder than what he expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Binding with White Rope

**Author's Note:**

> __  
> **Written for my BFF/second half of a very irregularly shaped apple, Anaka.**  
>   
> 
> I hope I didn't go completely OOC with the characters since I only watched anime and I haven't started reading the manga (yet).

“I think I need to leave you guys for the time being,” it was difficult for Jae-ha to keep his voice nonchalant, eyes scanning the bottom of his cup. It got Hak’s attention, razor-sharp orbs locking onto Ryokuryuu, who tried to act as casual as the circumstances allowed. The rest of their group was gathered around Yoon, who apparently was performing some kind of cooking magic, while Hak decided to take a breather and keep his distance. Jae-ha did not mind his company, but right now it would be the best for both of them to be left alone. It would make the decision-making easier on Jae-ha.

 

“Oh? Freedom’s call?” Thunder Beast asked without visible interest in the answer, seemingly too preoccupied with polishing the edges of his sword.

 

“You could call it that way,” Jae-ha chuckled. He put the empty cup away and stood up, brushing off the invisible dust.

 

“You’re not going to tell Yona about it,” Hak did not ask a question, he just stated a fact, but there was some expectancy hidden under his indifferent facade.  

 

“No,” Jae-ha admitted, finally feeling the guilt slip into his blood.

 

“It’s because of the White Snake, isn’t it? You’ve got it bad, huh,” brunet's words hit too close to home. Jae-ha couldn’t help the awkward laugh leaving his lungs.

 

“I don’t want to hear this from you, Thunder Beast.”

 

Hak gazed at him and it was a little ironic how much they understood each other in that particular moment. Jae-ha was more than aware that his companion awaited explanation, even if it turned out to be one sentence. Green Dragon inhaled and turned around - it was easier when he did not have to face the other.

 

“I don’t have your restraint, Hak. He’s so pure, it makes me want-”

 

“-to taint him,” Hak supplied. “Wow, you really are a pervert.”

 

“And you sound like you speak from experience.”

 

For a second the silence between them loomed heavily over their heads, but the feeling disappeared when the brunet let out a bitter chuckle.

 

“I guess I can relate. But the Princess won’t be happy about it, y’know.”

 

“Oh, I’m painfully aware. I just need some… distance put between me and my- problem.”

 

Jae-ha was not a man to be swayed easily, despite the mask of a flirtatious lady’s man he wore like a second skin most of the time. He greatly valued his freedom - feelings of commitment were one of those things that forced him to be careful. It did not mean he was heartless, no. On the contrary: there were few people he cared for so deeply it sometimes scared him immensely to even think of how much he let himself go. The way his chest constricted with longing as he looked at Yona’s face could be easily interpreted as the dragon blood’s will, but he was too old to not know his own heart. He also was too old to not notice the struggle Hak was going through every time Yona was involved, be it a dangerous situation she put herself in or a simple flirting from Jae-ha’s side. To put it simply: Hak was going to suffer as long as Yona stayed oblivious and to protect her he was willing to keep her that way. The truth was that Hak’s situation was probably the reason why Ryokuryuu acted especially cautious when considering the matters of true, long-lasting love - he did not want to end bound by something that couldn’t be reciprocated.

 

Jae-ha did not have problems with admitting the undeniable attraction and admiration he felt for the brave, yet still very frail Princess. He also did not have problems with accepting the bond he shared with other members of the group, because it felt like an actual family (he could say the same about the disbanded group of pirates he left back in Awa; the thought of having so many people take space in his heart was a little strange, at least for him).

 

Jae-ha’s real problems began with Kija coming into the picture. Hakuryuu was as beautiful and sweetly naive as he was frustrating and prudish. Ryokuryuu’s rather visible unwillingness to agree with White Dragon’s noble ideals was equal to his willingness to tease the boy until the ivory skin on his cheeks became rosy with heat after only a couple of words.  It would be a lot less difficult if it was only Kija’s beauty that enthralled Jae-ha, but unfortunately for the latter, it wasn’t the case. Believing and fighting for something with all your might was a captivating quality - the Green Dragon could find it not only in Yona, who captured him with the intensity of her emotions, but also in White Dragon’s unfaltering determination to protect his master, putting his whole soul on the stake. Hakuryuu was gullible, yes. But in battle he showed fierceness compared only to Hak’s, he cared deeply about his friends and loyalty was his second nature. All the commendable qualities of reliable comrade mixed evenly with the flaws of a self-righteous brat made Jae-ha unable to look away. Kija was both a carefully preserved dream of the past and a human learning about the new, unknown world that enveloped him after leaving the safe nest. He knew nothing and his lack of knowledge sometimes annoyed Ryokuryuu to no end, while simultaneously making Hakuryuu even more endearing.

 

“Wait till tomorrow. If nothing changes during the night, then I won’t stop you,” the sound of Hak’s voice brought Jae-ha back to the present. He sighed, nodding slightly, then smiling mischievously.

 

“Well, it’s not like you will be able to catch me anyway...”

 

Jae-ha turned around and, a little carelessly, let his gaze wander to the white material of Hakuryuu’s clothes. Looking up, blue and green orbs locked for a moment, leaving Ryokuryuu somehow unsettled. In that one second he thought that Kija might have noticed something, so he decided to play it off as usual: a smirk, a wink and the other was already flushed from embarrassment.

 

(Oh, how Jae-ha hoped it was something more.)

 

“One night, Green Dragon,” Hak repeated, pushing himself up and going back to the rest of the group.

 

“One night,” Jae-ha echoed, trying to convince himself that it was indeed a good idea as he made his way to the fireplace, eyes and thoughts still locked onto the silver shine of White Dragon’s hair.

 

 

***

 

 

Jae-ha could not sleep, too many thoughts fighting inside his head, threatening to spill into the night.

 

This was ridiculous - to lose his precious beauty rest because of some sort of a weird attraction? No. It’s because he was afraid it would end badly for all the people involved. His decision to leave was absolutely reasonable.

 

Too immersed in the dark sea his mind had become, at first he did not notice the presence looming right beside him. Only after he felt a wave of anxiety, which was not his, wash over him, he turned on his side. Two fingers silenced him immediately, preventing any sound from slipping past his sealed lips. He must have failed miserably at controlling his features, because the hand retreated in the next moment, a whisper of “I’m sorry” reaching his ears.

 

“What’s wrong Hakuryuu?” Jae-ha didn’t think his heart could literally skip a beat when he looked at the person he liked, but it certainly did the thing, throwing him off his pace and forcing him to calm his breath down. The reason behind Jae-ha’s insomnia was kneeling beside him, moonlight giving him an aura of something akin to an ephemeral ghost.

 

“I believe that it should be me asking you this. Why-” Kija casted his eyes away, biting onto the thin bottom lip, “-why are you shutting our- our link off?”

 

“Why do you always assume that what I do is of some concern to you?” Jae-ha did not want to sound cold, he really didn’t, but seeing the hurtful look on Hakuryuu’s beautiful face indicated that once again his control failed. He sat up, making the other back away a little.

 

There was tension in the air between them, Jae-ha’s blood boiling with a need for something unnamed. He leaned into Kija’s personal space, green orbs freezing the other in his place.

 

“Or do you perhaps love me so much that you can’t stand me cutting you off?”

 

Kija looked away, heat emanating from his body speaking volumes of how red his face must have been, hidden under the veil of darkness.

 

“Why do you want to seal yourself off so badly?”

 

Jae-ha noted how the claws in the dragon hand curled into a fist.

“Because I’m going to leave tomorrow,” why did he say that? Ryokuryuu was sure it had something to do with the desperation visible in the way Kija handled himself, angry and worried, not knowing what was going to happen next - it pulled at Jae-ha’s heartstrings.

 

“Why?” Blue eyes snapped back to him, question loaded with emotions whispered into the air between them.

 

“You’re persistent, aren’t you? Well, you see-” Jae-ha gently grabbed other’s man chin, “-I want you so bad I might actually snap and it scares me, my beautiful, pure White Dragon,” tilting Kija’s face up, so that they were millimetres away, he leaned in for a kiss that never happened. He stopped halfway, all the while big, blue eyes stared at him in shock.

 

Jae-ha let go of the white-haired man.

 

“Go back to sleep, Hakuryuu,” his voice sounded gentler even to his own ears. He stood up, but before he could take a step, a hand covered in scales shining with silver light under the moon’s watchful gaze, grabbed his wrist. He was pulled onto his knees, his arms suddenly full of slightly trembling Kija.

 

“You can be afraid, but I’m not. I am not afraid. Don’t leave us.”

 

“Who, exactly?”

 

“Yoon, Thunder Beast, our dragon brothers, our Master-” that wasn’t the thing Jae-ha needed to hear from Kija and it only served to strengthen his resolve to leave. He took a deep breath and spoke right into the white-haired man’s ear.

 

“You will manage without me, you’re all formidable warriors-”

 

“Don’t- don’t leave me after confessing, you bastard!” the dragon hand tightened on Ryokuryuu’s shoulder.

 

“I won’t be satisfied with just-” Jae-ha really wanted to warn the other, so that Kija knew what was going to happen from now on, however, the pair of lips clumsily planted on his own made him remember he was dealing with determination incarnated. He opened his mouth, reclaiming control over the course of the situation. Kija’s evident lack of experience made it a lot easier to keep Jea-ha’s brimming desires at bay - the last thing he wanted was to hurt the other in a way that could not be undone by a simple apology. He might have indicated that it wouldn’t be enough, but if Kija was willing to accept both the want and the yearning, Jae-ha could take it as slowly as possible.

 

They parted, tips of their noses touching, soft gazes locking onto swollen, moist lips.

 

“You have to take responsibility,” Kija mumbled, body tightly pressed against Jae-ha’s.

 

“Oh, I will make sure to take more than this,” Ryokuryuu purred, holding the other in a warm embrace that most certainly was at odds with a seductive tone he tried to use. Hakuryuu pushed at him slightly, trying to disentangle himself, but with little effect.

 

“You are such a… ugh, I do not know, how to comment on this.”

 

“Good, now can we please go to sleep, O-mighty dragons? You can get more action, when the Princess is not around,” Hak’s irritated grumble made them both halt their movement.

 

“Yes, yes, of course, Thunder Beast,” was Jae-ha’s answer, as he simultaneously pushed Kija’s rigid body onto a makeshift bedding, while he himself moved to lay beside the younger man. His arms encircled the other from behind, pulling him closer, letting Ryokuryuu bask in the sweet scent - White Dragon’s whole body smelled like it was bathed in a love potion.

 

About ten minutes later Hakuryuu’s muscles relaxed completely, chest heaving with even, calm breaths. Jae-ha briefly thought that being captured by someone so gorgeous and interesting was not half bad. Maybe he could get used to it.

  
When Kija turned in his sleep, snuggling into the warmth the embrace offered, Jae-ha knew that he already got used to the feeling of Hakuryuu being there, right beside him.

**Author's Note:**

> [Find me on Tumblr](http://at-the-road-beginning.tumblr.com/)


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